WWTBAM Bored

We're now having our first test of how the new Georgia voting laws affect runoff elections. Under the new law, runoffs will be four weeks after the primary, and in the general election, runoffs will be four weeks after the November election. Since Georgia has a law that mandates a runoff in the general election if no candidate receives 50% of the vote and Libertarian candidates typically receive 2-3% of the vote, it's possible that several key races, including Senate and Governor, could go to runoffs.

Because we are over 65, Mrs. SSS and I could (and did) opt to receive absentee ballots for the remainder of this year's election cycle (including general election). Others could request absentee ballots just for the upcoming runoff. People could submit absentee ballot requests online or by emailing, mailing or faxing them into their county elections office. Here are the key dates:

Primary election May 24
Last day to request absentee ballot June 10
Early voting must begin by June 13
Early voting ends June 17
Runoff election June 21
General election November 8
General election runoff December 6

For the primary election at least two Saturdays of early voting were mandated, and counties could elect to have early Sunday voting as well. (Seven predominantly white counties decided to do away with Sunday early voting.) There is no similar mandate for the runoff, so it's up to the counties to decide whether to have weekend voting. Fulton County, where I live, will have Saturday and Sunday early voting this weekend.

In the primary election, there was an earliest date set for counties to mail out absentee ballots. There were no similar restrictions for the runoff. I checked Fulton County's site, and it says that our runoff ballots were sent June 7. We still haven't received them, even though we live about ten miles from the county election offices. We can either drop the completed ballots into a drop box. or mail them in. If so, they must be received by 7:00 on election day. People who decide to mail the absentee ballots in have an additional problem this year, because June 20, the day before the election is the day the new Juneteenth federal holiday is celebrated, so no mail service that day. Similarly, Thanksgiving will fall during the period before any general election runoff.

Once again, Georgia is making it more difficult for people to vote absentee, and this could be crucial in November if there are any runoffs.

I'm wondered whether the new Georgia law conflicts with federal law- The Uniformed and Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act. The time between election and runoff (if necessary) has been compressed to 4 weeks, which doesn't allow enough time for absentee ballots to be printed and mailed to those residents serving in the military or otherwise living overseas.

Maybe there are some outstanding provisions to handle this, but I haven't heard a peep. This will be the first test of the consequences of the compressed time period.

bazodee wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 09, 2022 2:23 pm

I'm wondered whether the new Georgia law conflicts with federal law- The Uniformed and Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act. The time between election and runoff (if necessary) has been compressed to 4 weeks, which doesn't allow enough time for absentee ballots to be printed and mailed to those residents serving in the military or otherwise living overseas.

Maybe there are some outstanding provisions to handle this, but I haven't heard a peep. This will be the first test of the consequences of the compressed time period.

I am quite certain those evil republicans who changed the election laws in Georgia did it expressly to disenfranchise people serving in the Armed Forces overseas.
I am also quite certain that if these laws were what they are now and hadn't been changed by the republicans, no one would be complaining about them. They would be what they are and if you want to vote, you would figure it out.

bazodee wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 09, 2022 2:23 pm

I'm wondered whether the new Georgia law conflicts with federal law- The Uniformed and Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act. The time between election and runoff (if necessary) has been compressed to 4 weeks, which doesn't allow enough time for absentee ballots to be printed and mailed to those residents serving in the military or otherwise living overseas.

Maybe there are some outstanding provisions to handle this, but I haven't heard a peep. This will be the first test of the consequences of the compressed time period.

The UOCAV Act requires absentee ballots for federal offices be sent to voters who request them no later than 45 days before the election, if requests were received in time. Georgia has an alternate procedure which may comply with the law. Any voter can request an absentee ballot form electronically and fill it out online or email it. But for UOCAV voters, they have the option to have the actual ballot sent to them by email. However, they must return the ballot by physical means, not by email or fax. They do get an additional three days to return the ballot, so if it's received by Friday after the election, it counts. I'm not sure if this complies with the UOCAV Act.

silverscreenselect wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 09, 2022 3:01 pm

bazodee wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 09, 2022 2:23 pm

I'm wondered whether the new Georgia law conflicts with federal law- The Uniformed and Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act. The time between election and runoff (if necessary) has been compressed to 4 weeks, which doesn't allow enough time for absentee ballots to be printed and mailed to those residents serving in the military or otherwise living overseas.

Maybe there are some outstanding provisions to handle this, but I haven't heard a peep. This will be the first test of the consequences of the compressed time period.

The UOCAV Act requires absentee ballots for federal offices be sent to voters who request them no later than 45 days before the election, if requests were received in time. Georgia has an alternate procedure which may comply with the law. Any voter can request an absentee ballot form electronically and fill it out online or email it. But for UOCAV voters, they have the option to have the actual ballot sent to them by email. However, they must return the ballot by physical means, not by email or fax. They do get an additional three days to return the ballot, so if it's received by Friday after the election, it counts. I'm not sure if this complies with the UOCAV Act.

A ten second Google search tells you that the Georgia law complies by giving the electronic ballot option. If a voter chooses a paper ballot, the requirement to meet deadlines is on them.

Mrs. SSS and I received our absentee ballots Saturday, and we'll be dropping them off tomorrow (early voting for the runoff is this week). There are four cabinet posts on the Democratic side in the runoff, including the crucial Secretary of State race and Lt. Governor. There are runoffs in four Republican Congressional district races.

Interesting article today in the Atlanta Journal. Not surprisingly, absentee balloting was way down in the primary. Only 4% of the votes cast were absentee. (Before 2020, about 5% of votes cast were usually absentee.) In the 2020 primary, 49% of votes cast were absentee. The Secretary of State's office sent absentee applications out by mail to every registered voter for that election, due to the pandemic. For the 2020 general election, voters had to request an absentee ballot (or those over 65 or disabled could check off a box on the primary application to vote absentee for the rest of the election cycle). 26% of voters cast absentee ballots in the 2020 general election.

About two million people voted in the primary, compared to 2.3 million in 2020 (the 2020 Presidential primary was held separately, before the pandemic) and five million in the general election. About 61% of primary voters chose Republican ballots.

https://www.ajc.com/politics/under-geor ... LQIB4TUM4/